KHARTOUM: Sudan has released 115 of some 135 anti-coup protesters who had been held for weeks, a UN official said on Thursday, following pressure from lawyers, families and the international community.
The detainees are part of a protest movement against an October 25 coup that has persisted despite security crackdowns killing 82 and wound more than 2,000, according to medics.
Their detention came following the reinstatement of powers to the country's powerful intelligence service in late December, which had been a key tool under former President Omar al Bashir.
"There's no investigations or anything, they just take people and throw them into jail for no cause," said Shahinaz Jamal, an activist at a protest in front of a UN building, this week.
Adama Dieng, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' designated expert for Sudan, called for the immediate release of all the other protesters.
"I raised concern at the extension of law enforcement powers to the general security forces during the state of emergency and the temproary immunity from prosecution granted to these forces," he said.
Lawyers say the detainees include protesters, members of neighbourhood resistance committees, union members and politicians, some arrested during protests and others taken from their homes and other locations.
Still imprisoned are top former officials under the civilian-military power-sharing arrangement prior to the coup, held on corruption charges, as well as protesters accused of killing a police brigadier-general.
Lawyer Inaam Atieg, part of the Emergency Lawyers activist group, said the detained protesters had been denied access to lawyers, doctors and their families and that although they were detained under a state of emergency, correct procedures were not followed.
The public prosecutors' office did not respond to a request for comment.
'STOP SHOOTING PROTESTERS'
A UN expert on Thursday urged Sudanese forces to stop firing live ammunition and tear gas at anti-coup protesters.
Demonstrations have continued in the northeast African country since army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan led a military takeover on October 25, sparking international condemnation and suspension of aid.
"Firing live ammunition on the people is a huge violation against human rights," said the United Nations expert, Adama Dieng.
"I'm concerned about the violations (committed by) the authorities and the use of live ammunition against protesters," he said, putting the toll at 82 dead and 2,000 wounded.
Both the UN and the United States have made similar appeals before, with Washington threatening further "consequences" if violence continues. A Sudanese man shot dead on Sunday was the latest fatality.
The Senegalese envoy has been in Sudan for the past four days, meeting with leaders, diplomats and civil society members in a bid to shed light on the crackdown.
"I am calling for fair, independent and professional investigation on the violence against protesters," he told journalists in Khartoum.
Dieng also expressed concern about sexual violence and ongoing raids against anti-coup groups as well as the fate of around 100 detainees who "have never met their lawyers".
As he spoke, an AFP correspondent reported that security forces fired more tear gas at demonstrators protesting the coup.
Sudanese authorities have said they arrested several police and soldiers who fired at demonstrators with Kalashnikov rifles, disobeying orders.
Human Rights Watch has quoted witnesses detailing how both "live ammunition" and tear gas canisters were shot "directly" at crowds, a tactic that can be deadly at close quarters. - Reuters/AFP
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